Djokovic Calls It a Season in 2017

I took time to make a decision about my recovery. Sorry for keeping you in the dark these days. Read more here https://t.co/tCSw46TOL2

— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) July 26, 2017

Djokovic’s announcement was today and I was happy to hear that he decided to pack it in for the season. Obviously, as a fan, I will miss his tennis but this break is so long overdue that it needs to be this long.

Enough is enough. It is better to do a Federer now and come back in 2018 fresh and 100% healthy. No more unnecessary risks with his all-important health. Health always comes first especially for an athlete because without it, you are on the sidelines.

That is the hard lesson Djokovic had to learn because by not taking a break after he won the personal slam he has pretty much wasted a year on tour and now he has to take an added five months off. His ranking will fall but that is of least importance now.

Djokovic has been in the top 4 for more than 10 years and is the only big 4 member who hasn’t taken an extended break. That in itself is an achievement to stay healthy for that long and play at such a high level for such a long time.

He has earned this break. Apparently, Djokovic had this injury problem since the beginning of 2016 so he was already playing with it for 6 months before he won the French Open. One would have thought after the French Open would have been a good time to call it a day or at the latest after the grass court season but it was the kind of injury he could play with so it was easy to get tempted to play on.

As good as Federer is with scheduling he also played with a bad back in 2013 and as a result, his results suffered.

That said, health should always come first and Djokovic has learned a tough lesson. The positive thing that came out of this last year on tour was the Agassi partnership which is why I’m pleased to hear Agassi spent more time with Djokovic in Toronto recently and that he will stay Djokovic’s head coach.

I still think that partnership has a lot of potential and I want to at least see what happens with it when Djokovic is healthy and winning titles again.

I think the long break will do Djokovic good and he is capable of doing something similar to what Federer is doing this year. Djokovic is after all 5 years younger than Federer so if Federer can do what he is currently doing then Djokovic has at least the potential to win the calendar slam.

This break will also give Djokovic a chance to work on some things in his tennis that he wasn’t able to work on with the demanding schedule.

Let me know what you think.